Spanish

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rsgrig36

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Two questions, the first of which has probably been asked before.

1. How much of an advantage is being able to speak Spanish for applying to Medical Schools? I am trying to self-teach myself Spanish and was just wondering about this.

2. There are Spanish Medical Terminology programs you can take in Central America, has anybody tried these out? I'm sure it must bring some kind of boost to your application with this on there.
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rsgrig36 said:
2. There are Spanish Medical Terminology programs you can take in Central America, has anybody tried these out? I'm sure it must bring some kind of boost to your application with this on there.
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This is relevant to my interests

If anyone could post examples of these programs that would be great. I'm going to study abroad Spring 2012 or Summer 2012 to ensure fluency in Spanish before starting med school
 
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is it me, or does it seem like when people speak spanish it sounds like one long run-on word?
 
rsgrig36 said:
Two questions, the first of which has probably been asked before.

1. How much of an advantage is being able to speak Spanish for applying to Medical Schools? I am trying to self-teach myself Spanish and was just wondering about this.

2. There are Spanish Medical Terminology programs you can take in Central America, has anybody tried these out? I'm sure it must bring some kind of boost to your application with this on there.
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Honestly, you're not going to be able to self-study your Spanish to a level that would make it relevant to med school apps, so while being native or near-native might be the equivalent of a point or two on the MCAT (probably no more than 2 pts max), being able to speak conjugate most verbs in all simple indicative tenses and knowing 250 common words fluently is probably not going to earn you any significant boost.

As for medical terminology programs.... I'd stay away from them for now. The students I've known who did them didn't find them very helpful and generally stated they could have learned the same amt by simply taking much less expensive non-"medical" coursework in-country and then learned the "medical" stuff (which is generally pretty simple -- stuff like "ovarios" for ovaries) w/ a dictionary. In other words, the programs are often rip-offs.

That all being said, go study the language in-country for a few months and you'll learn a TON. Take regular Spanish courses in a place like southern Mexico for a few mos. You'll come back with quite a bit of progress.
 
tweek125 said:
is it me, or does it seem like when people speak spanish it sounds like one long run-on word?
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It's because your ears have not become attuned to picking up the beginning and end of words in that language. If you look at a the waveform of someone speaking English, most phrases do not have pauses in them -- that is, the sound is continuous. The only reason you hear words is b/c your ears (i.e., your brain) have learned to identify the patterns in English that signify word boundaries.
 
apumic said:
It's because your ears have not become attuned to picking up the beginning and end of words in that language. If you look at a the waveform of someone speaking English, most phrases do not have pauses in them -- that is, the sound is continuous. The only reason you hear words is b/c your ears (i.e., your brain) have learned to identify the patterns in English that signify word boundaries.
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that's why i prefer dutch. you can really hear the pauses even if you don't understand it. but unfortunately i doubt it would help me that much on an application compared to someone who speaks el spanish-o
 
apumic said:
It's because your ears have not become attuned to picking up the beginning and end of words in that language. If you look at a the waveform of someone speaking English, most phrases do not have pauses in them -- that is, the sound is continuous. The only reason you hear words is b/c your ears (i.e., your brain) have learned to identify the patterns in English that signify word boundaries.
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Idisagreeentirely, and I am a licensed ESL teacher with experience teaching English in a Spanish-speaking country. English is more enunciated than Spanish, with greater variation in mouth orientation and intonation. Compared to English, Spanish does run together. One of the best ways to sound fluent in Spanish is to learn to bridge words.

Also, it's rather asinine to equate fluency in Spanish to 1-2 points on the MCAT. AdComs are comprised of people, not computers. I'd look favorably on acquiring an L2, but that's because I know how difficult it is.

(1) YOU WILL NOT learn Spanish on your own. If your goal is communication, you need to intake and produce the language through conversation.

(2) YOU WILL NOT get your money's worth out of a medical-spanish program. If you have unlimited funds and no interpersonal skills, www.maximonivel.com or similar programs are a good option. If, however, you really want to learn the language, cowboy up and immerse yourself in the language. Buy a plane ticket, find a host for the first month, get a job, and come back fluenty.

If you can already speak Spanish to a functional degree, just contact organizaciones sin lucro and most will jump at the opportunity for a free volunteer. You don't need to pay $1,000 for a month of volunteer work in a Spanish-speaking country.

If anyone has specific questions about teaching English, Spanish immersion, living abroad, or L2 acquisition, feel free to PM me.

Pura Vida,

-C.J.
 
I don't know that speaking Spanish will get you ANY points when it comes to admissions. It will, however, be beneficial once you're a physician.

Immersion is the best way to learn. Even though Spanish isn't a language as complex as, say, Mandarin, teaching yourself will only get you so far. You might memorize how to write things, but who knows how you'll be pronouncing them and you might not be able to understand.
 
DancingThruLife said:
I don't know that speaking Spanish will get you ANY points when it comes to admissions. It will, however, be beneficial once you're a physician.

Immersion is the best way to learn. Even though Spanish isn't a language as complex as, say, Mandarin, teaching yourself will only get you so far. You might memorize how to write things, but who knows how you'll be pronouncing them and you might not be able to understand.
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This is true. I am no expert, I have taken a year of Spanish, and one thing I find is that I will memorize all these verbs and whatnot just fine, but if I forget to practice verbally then I sound like a buffoon.

However, IMO, speaking is not the hard part, as touched on, listening to a native speaker is the hard part.
 
rsgrig36 said:
Two questions, the first of which has probably been asked before.

1. How much of an advantage is being able to speak Spanish for applying to Medical Schools? I am trying to self-teach myself Spanish and was just wondering about this.

2. There are Spanish Medical Terminology programs you can take in Central America, has anybody tried these out? I'm sure it must bring some kind of boost to your application with this on there.
Click to expand...

I know it'll be useful if you go to CA, Texas, Arizona, or other areas with a large Latino population. I think Stanford's website lists Spanish as recommended.

Its also useful for hooking up with latino girls (hot and dumb = perfect), and getting free burritos from your Mexican patients.
 
I work in a resturant as a server right now,
I know some spanish.. but the kind of language you would not say in front of your mother.
But I do plan on taking a spanish course. So I wonder if I can add that to my application?
 
If you are a native speaker, it is a big help. Otherwise, is is a very, very minor point in the admissions process but a big help when you are a student/trainee/attending if you are fluent enough to function without an interpreter in clinical settings.
 
Playa said:
I know it'll be useful if you go to CA, Texas, Arizona, or other areas with a large Latino population. I think Stanford's website lists Spanish as recommended.

Its also useful for hooking up with latino girls (hot and dumb = perfect), and getting free burritos from your Mexican patients.
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Lol latino girls are dumb?
 
Well the ones that ive crossed paths were stupid, but they were pretty hot so it worked out well for me for a few nights, but im sure there are smart ones out there. I just haven't met any yet.
 
Playa said:
Well the ones that ive crossed paths were stupid, but they were pretty hot so it worked out well for me for a few nights, but im sure there are smart ones out there. I just haven't met any yet.
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I'm beginning to think you are a troll sir.
 
rsgrig36 said:
1. How much of an advantage is being able to speak Spanish for applying to Medical Schools? I am trying to self-teach myself Spanish and was just wondering about this.
.
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Depends on the school and your qualifications. Obviously if you can pass the DELE,or get certified by a translator organization, get a minor, or some other kind of qualification it's going to sound more believable that just stating that "I taught myself spanish"


2. There are Spanish Medical Terminology programs you can take in Central America, has anybody tried these out? I'm sure it must bring some kind of boost to your application with this on there
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I went through www.ecela.com to learn Spanish, which is in South America but basically the kind of program you're looking for. I did their classes, some private tutoring, and their medical spanish/shadowing program. The Spanish program/tutoring was a great investment, the trip was a fun thing to talk about during interviews, and my relative fluency has come up on rotations a few times now even though I'm not in a particularly hispanic state. The medical spanish programs was... well I guess it was nice for resume fodder but honestly the medical terminology is pretty easy to pick up and I felt like th key was to learn Spanish in general rather than medical terminology. Anyway I'd recommend the program to anyone: it was pretty reasonalby priced,a memorable experience, and a good investment.
 
I asked that very question to someone on adcom. Their response: Not really.

It'd be useful to pick it up while a resident/attending, but what do you think hospital interpreters get paid for?
 
AmyLT said:
It'd be useful to pick it up while a resident/attending, but what do you think hospital interpreters get paid for?
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Depending on the hospital and the population, if you need to request an interpreter for every hispanic patient you might be working a lot of overtime. At many hospitals the 'interpreter' is often just a Spanish speaking LPN/RN who might not be that great a translator and almost definitely has other things that (s)he also needs to be doing.
 
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